The present invention relates to stringed instruments such as electric guitars and folk guitars.
There are stringed instruments which have a hollow body generally composed of a pair of substantially parallel top and back and a side which extends between the top and back along the periphery of the top and back so as to form a hollow in the body. Strings extend over the outer top whereas the outer back faces the player when the instrument is played. A neck is attached to the body between the top and back at a predetermined end of the body with the strings extending from a bridge attached at substantially the center of the top to a head provided at an opposite end of the body from the neck.
A stringed instrument having a hollow body causes the air within the hollow body to resonate with string vibrations to thereby generate a musical sound of a warm soft tone quality compared to a stringed instrument having a solid body without a hollow in its body. The features of the tone quality of a musical sound generated by a hollow-bodied stringed instrument are common to any of an acoustic stringed instrument which generates a musical sound due to only string vibrations and body resonance without electrical amplification and an electric stringed instrument which generates a musical sound by converting a string vibration to an electric signal and amplifying the electric signal. Even in the case of the electric stringed instrument, vibrations of its body return to its strings, so that not only the strings but also the structure of the body is a factor which characterizes the tone quality of the musical sound.
In the conventional hollow-bodied stringed instrument, a bridge is attached at the center of the top of the body which makes string vibrations rich in resonance to the string vibrations. Thus, the center of the body does not vibrate and forms a node of the vibrations of the top (where the vibration amplitude is minimum). Accordingly, the vibrations of the top are limited and monotonous and the vibration amplitude is limited. Thus, the number of overtone components added to the obtained musical sound is limited and hence the warmth of the tone quality of the musical sound is limited, undesirably.
If parts such as a tape recorder and a speaker providing an additional function are attached to the hollow body of the stringed instrument so as to have additional functions, many of the additional parts are generally vulnerable to vibrations and could malfunction owing to possible impact produced by touching the strings and the movement of the whole instrument caused by the player's move.